All season long, Bukaya Saka, led by Colby Hall, has been on track to become the fourth team in this league’s history to earn back-to-back titles. The others were me in 1999-2000, Bob in 2010-2011 and Matt 2017-2018.

After a sluggish 3-3 start it might have seemed like an impossible task, but then Colby’s boys won 10 straight games, which is the 7th longest streak in league history. He’s looking to become just the second person to finish a season recording 11-straight victories. He did it with great keepers (McCaffrey, Etienne) and a solid draft that produced All-Robio caliber talent (Brown, Hockenson), as well as solid bench play (Addison).

QB was a question mark and might have turned into an issue, but Colby simply plugged in Stroud, then later Purdy. This bunch may not end up being the greatest squad ever, but they could be looking like a “top-five ever” type of team depending on what they do this week.

If anyone can derail Colby’s repeat dreams, why not Dr. Michael Evangelist? The leader of the D-Love is not a fluke, even if it felt like a typical Mike squad. They began the year 5-0 and yes, struggled down the stretch (3-6), but they still finished third in the standings and second in points.

He’s looking to earn his first ever championship mug, led by two backs not projected to be his stars, Swift and free agent grab, Kyren Williams. His receivers (Olave and Ridley) have WR1 ceilings, while Njuko has been a nice add. His only weakness may be Patrick Mahomes, which almost feels like a mortal sin saying it. Anyhow, let’s see what we have coming up.

2023 RECORD

Colby: 13-3
Michael: 10-6

2023 SCORING

Colby: 1,571 PPG
Michael: 1,412 PPG

2023 BREAKDOWN

Colby: 127-48-1 (9-7 vs Michael)
Michael: 109-67

PLAYOFF CAREER

Colby is up to 12-11, having now won five straight postseason games. This is his fourth career title game, which is the sixth most by one team. He averages 1,394 PPG in the playoffs; only four people average more. He’s 1-2 in the finals.

Michael is 2-3 in our postseason, with both wins coming this season. He averages only 1,252 PPG, which is the lowest in the league, but he has topped 1,500 in both the quarterfinals and semifinals this year.

#1 SEED vs #3 SEED

The top overall seed is 35-20 in the postseason, having reached the title game 10 times prior to this season; which is the most of all the seeds. However, the 1-seed is just 4-6 in the finals. Previous 1-seed champions are Robio (1999), Jason (2001), Matt (2009) and Bob (2014)

The 3-seed, with the help of Mike’s two wins this year, is back to .500 in the postseason, posting a 23-23 record. Much of that is due to a solid 8-4 record in the semifinals. However, in the finals, the 3-seed is just 2-5. The only two 3-seeds to win it all are Robio (2002) and Burrier (2003). Yep, it’s been 20 years since a three has earned a mug.

Overall, the one and three seeds have faced off three times in the finals. The three seed won the first ever meeting, when I defeated 1-seeded Molly in 2002. However, the 1-seed won the next two meetings. In 2009, 1-seed Matt defeated 3-seed Griff. In 2014, 1-seed Bob beat 3-seed Matt by a single point in 2014.

COLBY vs MICHAEL | THIS SEASON

These two faced off twice this season and actually split their two games. Back in week two, Michael defeated Colby, 1,526-1,485. Evangelist only got two big performances from Mahomes (342) and Swift (422), but Colby suffered with two sub-100 games with Etienne (84) and Brown (58), which was too much for McCaffrey (330), Hockenson (252) and the Cowboys DST (253) to overcome.

While the second game wasn’t as close as Michael’s 41-point victory in week two, their rematch in week 13 was a close one. Behind McCaffrey’s 336, along with four others topping 200, Colby escaped with a 77-point win, 1,324-1,247. Michael got 284 from Kyren Williams and 238 from Olave, but two players, Ridley and Njoku, combined for just 100 points and Mahomes failed to top 200.

COLBY vs MICHAEL | CAREER

Mike’s nine games against Colby is the most he’s faced against one opponent. Of those nine, Colby has won more, going 5-4 against the league’s newest member. Michael won their first ever meeting back in week 2 of the 2019 season, although Colby took the rematch later that year. The next two seasons, the pair faced off once per season and Michael won them both, taking a 3-1 lead in their series.

However, Colby swept the doctor last year in two regular season meetings, then defeated him a third time in the quarterfinals. This year was the third time in five seasons they met twice in the regular season (splitting the two contests).

POSITION vs POSITION

QUARTERBACK

Patrick Mahomes (Michael) vs Brock Purdy (Colby) 

One of these guys has been the best quarterback since he was given the starting job; the other was 7th round pick that only got the starting job last year because 84 quarterbacks ahead of him got hurt. Yet, the former is not the better of the two right now. Mahomes was Mike’s first-round pick and he’s been pretty bad for a quarterback taken in round one. He’s topped 300 fantasy points just once since scoring 540 in week seven. He’s averaged only 223 over the last month, as the Chiefs passing game has been shit. He has no receivers to toss it to and Kelce sorta looks his age, which is not young.

Meanwhile, Purdy has been one of the better quarterbacks this season, up until last week. Before facing the Ravens, the 49ers arm had averaged 388 in his last three, topping 400 twice. He had delivered 300+ points in six of his last seven before throwing four interceptions to the Ravens D.

Both have favorable matchups. Mahomes takes on the Bengals (25th against the pass in fantasy). The Bengals have had his number lately, so I’m willing to bet he’s going to want to light them up this week. The question is, can he? Yet, while Mahomes has a favorable matchup, Purdy has the easiest of them all, facing the Commanders D that is 32nd against the pass in fantasy.

ADVANTAGE: Brock Purdy (Colby)

RUNNING BACKS

De’Andre Swift & Kyren Williams (Michael) vs Christian McCaffrey & Travis Etienne (Colby)

Any backfield that has McCaffrey is going to have the advantage in my book. He averages 337 per game and has topped 300 in five straight contests, including 554 against the Cardinals two weeks ago. In fact, he’s topped 500 twice this year, although both times were against Arizona. He should easily top 400 for the third time this year facing the Commanders, who are one of the worst defenses in football.

Travis Etienne has not been an equal partner lately. He has scored over 200 just twice since week 10 and his 3.6 yards per carry on the season is awful and much lower over the last month. Because of this, he’s actually not getting the touches, as D’Ernest Johnson has began to steal time on the field. Fortunately for Colby, the Panthers are in town and they are the 31st ranked defense against the run. Now, I still don’t think Etienne will average four yards per carry, but when he scores, he hits 200. I think he scores this week.

For Michael, free agent steal, Kyren Williams, entered the playoffs as arguable the second best back in fantasy. He’s averaged 327 per game since coming back from injury and has gotten at least 22 touches in all five games. The Rams feed him and with Stafford throwing the ball well, there is plenty of room to roam, as Williams is averaging 5.1 yards per carry. Next up for the Rams are the Giants, who are 27th against the run. I expect Williams to dominate. He won’t keep up with McCaffrey, but he’ll soften the blow.

Lastly, we have Swift. The unexpected starter in Philly was amazing out of the gate, topping 200 in his first four games as a starter. However, he’s only hit that mark twice since week six, although he did it just last week against the Giants. The problem is, the Eagles don’t give him the ball a ton and worst yet, they never give it to him at the goal line. Of the nine backs who have at least 200 carries, only Tony Pollard and Najee Harris have less scores (Swift has only five touchdowns). Facing an awful Cardinals defense, Swift should find plenty of yards; yet I have no reason to believe he’ll score his second touchdown since week 12.

ADVANTAGE: Christian McCaffrey & Travis Etienne (Colby) 

WIDE RECEIVERS

Calvin Ridley & Chris Olave (Michael) vs A.J. Brown & Jordan Addison (Colby)

Predicting what Evangelist will get from his hands is going to be tough. First there is Ridley, who is one of the most inconsistent players in fantasy. Sure he hit 276 yards last week, but before that he scored just 78 points. In fact, seven times this year, he has failed to top 100. That’s…not great. Facing the 5th best pass defense in fantasy makes me think hitting 100 might be a challenge for an 8th time.

Chris Olave has been very consistent lately, as he has topped 200 in four of his last five contests, making him a low-end WR1. The problem is, he’s not 100% and we’re not even sure if he’s playing against the Buccaneers. If he’s 100% and playing, I’d say he has a big game, because Tampa’s D is a bend-don’t-break D that gives up a ton of passing yards.

For Colby, he walks into the week with two solid WR1s in his starting lineup. While A.J. Brown hasn’t been a superstar lately, topping 200 in just one of his last seven games, he’s still targeted a ton, getting double-digit targets in four straight games. This week, if he gets double-digit targets again, he’s going to dominate facing one of the worst pass defenses in fantasy (Cardinals are 31st against the pass in fantasy).

Last week, Amari Cooper had one of the best games in our playoff history, scoring 670 points. He was on pace to be playoff MVP. But then he hurt his heel and won’t play Thursday night. This is a big loss. Fortunately, Colby does have Jordan Addison. The dude was a stud when Jefferson was out, but since he has returned, Addison’s numbers have dipped a lot. He’s certainly can still put up digits, like he did in week 15 when he scored 342 points. However, these are his numbers the past five weeks: 88, 78, 54, 342 and 4. The problem is, without looking, can anyone name the Vikings’ starting arm this week?

SLIGHT ADVANTAGE: A.J. Brown & Jordan Addison (Colby) 

TIGHT END

David Njoku (Michael) vs Taysom Hill (Colby) 

While the Jets defense has become a wide receiver coffin in fantasy, tight ends can still produce against them. With Flacco throwing him the ball, David Njoku has become one of the better tight ends in the league. In his last three games, he has 31 targets, caught 22 balls for 239 yards and four scores. He’s scored 718 points. Against the Jets, I expect the Browns tight end to get double-digit targets and a score.

For Colby, losing Hockenson is huge. The dude is a big part of the Vikings offense, no matter who they put at QB. Now, Taysom Hill’s ceiling is high. He once scored 302 and 252 in weeks eight and nine. His points come via goal line touchdowns playing the wildcat and just four weeks ago he got 15 touches (13 rushes, two receptions) against the Lions (for 208 points). Yet, for reasons we don’t know, he’s disappeared from the Saints offense. He has just four touches in his last two games. I see no reason to believe he’s going to suddenly find success against the Buccaneers. Tampa’s defense is one of the worst between the 20’s, but they are one of the best run zone defenses in the league, only allowed a touchdown in 41.8% of their opponents’ red zone trips.

ADVANTAGE: David Njoku (Michael) 

PLACE KICKER 

Harrison Butker (Michael) vs Lucas Havrisik (Colby) 

This is pretty much a toss-up. Havrisik has made 15-of-20 field goals, but is just 4-of-9 from 40 yards or more. He’s missed a field goal in four of his last five games, so assuming he’ll miss one here isn’t a bad assumption. Butker has made 25 of his last 27, but those two misses came in his last two games. He also doesn’t get enough attempts. He has 27 attempts 15 games (1.8 per contest), while Havrisik has 20 in eight games (2.5 per contest). Matchups don’t matter much with kickers, but I’ll point out that Havrisik’s opponents (the Giants) are 12th against kickers in fantasy, while the Bengals (Butker’s opponent) are 25th.

SLIGHT ADVANTAGE: Harrison Butker (Michael) 

DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS

Colts DST (Michael) vs Texans DST (Colby) 

The Colts DST is maddening sometimes, scoring 242 one week, but seven the next. And honestly, the opponent doesn’t really matter much. However, they’re playing a bad Vegas offense that completed like two passes last week in the final three quarters in a win over the Chiefs.

The Texans have been pretty good this year. In fact, they are the 6th best DST so far this season. They’re also facing a Titans team they beat up two weeks ago. They only allowed Tennessee to produce 204 yards (66 in passing) and ten points. They finished with 238 fantasy points. They get them again at home, so one would think they can just repeat that effort? Well, history has taught me differently. I actually think Will Levis will play well going head-to-head with fellow rookie Stroud. He’ll have a lot more than 66 yards passing.

SLIGHT ADVANTAGE: Colts DST (Michael)

FINAL OUTCOME

With no Cooper tonight, only Michael has a player playing tonight. If Cooper was 100%, I could see him having a big night, because we all know Joe Flacco would love to dominate the team he played for last year. But with no Cooper, Michael jumps out to a 198-0 lead.

With no players playing on Saturday, we’re going to learn a lot Sunday during the early contest, as 11 players play in the 1pm window, including seven players on Colby’s squad. For Michael, the 1pm time slot is all about staying within reach. That will be hard. McCaffrey will have 178 yards and two scores (leading all players with 478 fantasy points). Brown is be great with 258 and while the 49ers will run McCaffrey a ton, Purdy will still get 352 against the Commanders. Meanwhile, Williams will lead the way against the Giants for Michael, scoring 332 points. However, I don’t see Swift scoring and settling for only 144. Chris Olave will nearly hit 200, but Ridley will fail to sniff 100.

By the time the Chiefs game is about to start at 4:25, Colby will be done, scoring a solid 1,571 points. Michael will be sitting at 1,135 points, 436 points behind, with both Mahomes and Butker left to play. This storyline is very juicy as Colby is a Chiefs fan.

Anyhow, Michael not only needs to take the lead after this game, but he needs a comfortable lead, as Colby has Addison left to play that night. The problem for Evangelist is, getting 436 (and more) from a QB and a kicker on the team isn’t always fun. If the Chiefs are settling for field goals, that means they’re not scoring touchdowns and I see the Chiefs scoring 27 points against the Bengals (a 27-20 victory). Butker will make two field goals, while Mahomes fails to hit 300 again, settling for 288. Mike finishes with 1,523 points, which is a good number, but he’ll be 48 points behind Colby with Addison left. Ball game, even with a meh effort from the Vikings receiver that night.

Michael becomes just the third person to score over 1,500 and lose in the title game, while Colby Hall earns back-to-back titles with a 1,659 – 1,523 victory.